Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (June 21st, 2019)

[Jango]

Here they come!

All the five girls will be available during the Grand Prix, but apparently only Tawna is a reward (and she's the GP final reward no less!):

Unless this is just the first batch of prizes, the other girls will definitely be added to the Pit Stop right way.

Also, sweet new cars:

I love the blue one. Man, look at all this stuff. Team Sonic Racing is looking more and more barebones, sigh.

Source, of course, ours @Motwera's Crashy News.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

So, have they fixed the AI issues and lousy Wumpa Coins amounts yet?

[Jango]

7 hours ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

So, have they fixed the AI issues and lousy Wumpa Coins amounts yet?

No word on AI yet, and I don't think they will fix this. It's exactly like Transformed. It's a choice, not an issue.

As for the coins, yes.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, Jango said:

 exactly like Transformed. It's a choice, not an issue.

No, (dumb) choice or not, it's still an issue big time. And Transformed's wasn't nearly as bad. That actually fairly tested players with skilled AI, CTRNF's just beefs up their stats unfairly.

Also, hopefully they'll fix online so that there isn't a dumb countdown that can bear you from getting Wumpa Coins as well.

2 hours ago, Jango said:

As for the coins, yes.

Well not yet. We'll see how well they fix it.

Still waiting on them fixing short cuts,  jump physics and whatnot too.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

2 hours ago, Jango said:

No word on AI yet, and I don't think they will fix this. It's exactly like Transformed. It's a choice, not an issue.

As for the coins, yes.

If it's a choice to literally make your A.I cheat, it's utterly stupid and inexcusable. It isn't fair difficulty, it's literally their stats are boosted to the max so therefore they will always be faster than you driving normally.

[Jango]

That's literally exactly how it was with Transformed on hard mode, I remember vividly. Slow characters like Mee-Mee and Pudding would casually pass me by like it was nothing. On top of that, the AI in Transformed was also SUPER weapon spammy. Hehe... I'm living a dejavu right now, because all I was seeing back in 2012 was thread after thread, post after post, on how the AI in Transformed was cheating fast. Eventually everybody managed. I'm doing it myself, up to world 3 on hard, and you'll too. I believe in you.

But... you can always play on medium, there's only a trophy related to playing on hard AFAIK.

As for the coins, the patch will go live on July 3rd. @Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice you might wanna read Activision's blog and watch CanadianGuyEh's interview with Thomas Wilson (CTR's director), they explained how it's gonna work (coins and rewards), so keep your eye for that

The only thing I would change about the Pit Stop is the randomizing system. Allow players to choose exactly what they want instead of spending on something else hoping that the next item MAY be the one you're looking for.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

9 minutes ago, Jango said:

That's literally exactly how it was with Transformed on hard mode

Never mind the fact that that's how AI in CTR NF even on Medium mode act.

 

9 minutes ago, Jango said:

I remember vividly.

As someone who literally plays these games back to back, I can tell you that despite whatever you may recall, even on hard mode, Transformed wasn't down right unfair like CTR NF's AI on anything except Easy Mode (where they're an unfun cakewalk).

9 minutes ago, Jango said:

Slow characters like Mee-Mee and Pudding would casually pass me by like it was nothing. On top of that, the AI in Transformed was also SUPER weapon spammy. 

Those aren't the main reasons people are calling the AI out in CTR NF. What you describe are AI that know their way around the mechanics something fierce. The AI in CTR NF are guilty of straight up cheating with boosted out stats and rubber banding that's terrible.

[Jango]

Again, it's my word against yours. I remember that the AI had maxed out stats and would rubberband as heavily as CTR. Why are you still arguing if you're sure I'm remembering it wrong? Move on.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 minute ago, Jango said:

Again, it's my word against yours.

Your point being? I can back mine up.

 

1 minute ago, Jango said:

Why are you still arguing if you're sure I'm remembering it wrong? Move on. 

Pardoneme? You're the one who raised the counter in the first place. If it's that pointless then there was no reason for you to try and counter it. It's a reasonable complaint, so I don't see why you even bothered trying to compare it to Transformed since it doesn't excuse anything.

[mayday2592]

Honestly medium is perfectly fair IMO outside of Adventure mode. Never had any real trouble once I got used to the altered mechanics. Hard mode needs to be fixed though.

[Jango]

9 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

Your point being? I can back mine up.

 

Pardoneme? You're the one who raised the counter in the first place. If it's that pointless then there was no reason for you to try and counter it. It's a reasonable complaint, so I don't see why you even bothered trying to compare it to Transformed since it doesn't excuse anything.

Back up yours then. Record a video, make a comparising between the two games. Again, it's word vs word. You're making a huge deal out of this. And now that you said this "issue" happens on medium too, I'm convinced that you're just not too good in the game yet.

Game's hard, Transformed was hard, but it is doable. It's not like the AI in CTR clips through walls and shit. That would be an issue.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 minute ago, Jango said:

And now that you said this "issue" happens on medium too, I'm convinced that you're just as good in the game yet.

You mean me and everyone else on Reddit who points out the issue? Oy vey? That's bordering on white knighting.

The fact that against others players online, I don't have this issue, pretty much points that out.

2 minutes ago, Jango said:

You're making a huge deal out of this.

I mean, I just brought up the issue which other people in this thread have brought up too. Now you're making some big deal of trying to disprove it.

 

3 minutes ago, Jango said:

Back up yours then. Recording a video, make a comparising between the two games.

Only to have you make some claim that I'm BSing it somehow? No thanks. This argument you've got going isn't worth me jumping through hoops and rings just try and convince you when other people are  well aware of the issue already.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

16 minutes ago, Jango said:

That's literally exactly how it was with Transformed on hard mode, I remember vividly. Slow characters like Mee-Mee and Pudding would casually pass me by like it was nothing. On top of that, the AI in Transformed was also SUPER weapon spammy. Hehe... I'm living a dejavu right now, because all I was seeing back in 2012 was thread after thread, post after post, on how the AI in Transformed was cheating fast. Eventually everybody managed. I'm doing it myself, up to world 3 on hard, and you'll too. I believe in you.

It's almost like it was also terrible in ASRT and still isn't a defence now. Sumo Digital doing something utterly idiotic then doesn't justify Activision doing the same thing even worse now. Even better - the TSR A.I is nowhere near as bad. They in fact give you a good challenge while not being utterly unfair, even on Expert. The only bullshit thing about Expert is your ally A.I isn't upgraded so your teammates are hindrances a lot of the time. But otherwise it isn't anywhere as bad as it was in that game, or this game.

I don't care if I can manage it or not. With enough perseverance, I know for a fact I probably could manage it, but it's also not fun. It's frustrating, it's utterly aggravating to be doing your best and to keep losing because the game is literally cheating to beat you, and expects you to win against it. That's what's worst about these modes - it is never about being skilled, or what have you - it's about luck, and that's because no matter what you do, the A.I will either A - get a rubber banded item so they can send you back to 8th (Usually a rocket), or B - end up catching up in seconds because they've been tweaked to be stupidly fast, and recovery quickly.

You are so heavily reliant on getting lucky with items to have a chance because you just can't catch up to the A.I because of their boosted chances, except the items in CTR is also screwed so that you can keep getting useless shit like TNT crates even in 5th to 8th. 

It's lazy. Because unlike TSR, where the A.I as it got harder was programmed to start using shortcuts, and working as a team a lot more, Activision took the fucking easy route of just bullshitting the stats to their highest levels and not giving you anything to compensate for it. When making a difficulty setting, you have two options - A. - make the A.I smarter as it keeps going up, keeping it fair because the A.I remains at their regular stats, but start playing smarter with items, boosts, and shortcuts, or B. - be lazy as utter hell and throw their stats up to eleven so they get a literal unfair advantage over you while you have nothing to compensate with. 

24 minutes ago, Jango said:

But... you can always play on medium, there's only a trophy related to playing on hard AFAIK.

Except, y'know, there's people here that's actually enjoys completing games? I've got the platinum in all of the Crash games, as well as Spyro, and that including collecting all of the gold relics in all three games. I'd love to complete CTR too, but can't find the will to even bother because I know that Hard mode is just going to be a load of frustrating shit because the A.I is actively cheating. At least with the relics in the original trilogy, the times might've been ridiculous but they were at least all built on a foundation of skill and perfect runs, instead of CTR which might as well be dumb luck.

15 minutes ago, Jango said:

Again, it's my word against yours. I remember that the AI had maxed out stats and would rubberband as heavily as CTR. Why are you still arguing if you're sure I'm remembering it wrong? Move on.

And there's numerous people on Reddit who have tons of experience with the game and flat out said that the hard setting is fifty times harder than the original CTR. Given that Jova's point is the one with far more numerous complaints around the internet, I'd say it would be you who has to prove such a comparison if you want to claim CTR NF is on the same difficulty level as CTR.

Like, why are we even trying to defend this? Activision did this exact same thing of flanderising "classic difficulty" in the past, when they did the time relics for Crash 1 and made them stupidly difficult to get because Crash 1's levels were built with a basis of timing and patience, instead of trying to blast through them quickly like Crash 2/3.

[Jango]

5 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

You mean me and everyone else on Reddit who points out the issue? Oy vey? That's bordering on white knighting.

The fact that against others players online, I don't have this issue, pretty much points that out.

I mean, I just brought up the issue which other people in this thread have brought up too. Now you're making some big deal of trying to disprove it.

 

Only to have you make some claim that I'm BSing it somehow? No thanks. This argument you've got going isn't worth me jumping through hoops and rings just try and convince you when other people are  well aware of the issue already.

It's a two hand road, I see just as many people completing the game on Hard on Reddit :V

As for you not having issues playing online, well... You have the Switch version don't you? Well, Mario Kart players ;/

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:01 PM, Jango said:

You have the Switch version don't you? Well, Mario Kart players ;/

Wow. You're really stooping to that old generalization. Yeah, it's old because in 2019, no one really even goes for that one. News flash, joke or not, Mario Kart players can play other racers.

I hope it's just a joke and not an old fashioned console wars mentality again.

On 6/29/2019 at 12:01 PM, Jango said:

I see just as many people completing the game on Hard on Reddit

Including me? Gee, it's like yeah, you can complete the game on hard, with enough perseverance, but that doesn't erase the issue still. And even worse, that doesn't make it fun. It's called wanting to 100% the game.

[Jango]

29 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

Including me? Gee, it's like yeah, you can complete the game on hard, with enough perseverance, but that doesn't erase the issue still. And even worse, that doesn't make it fun. It's called wanting to 100% the game.

From the top of your head, which games aren't a work of perseverance against unfair AI on hard mode nowadays anyways? One hit kills, common enemies with maxed out stats, enemies that spot you behind walls... It's always been like this honestly... I just don't see what's the big deal, that's all. 

[TheOcelot]

I've been playing the Online Battle modes today which are a lot of fun. A PSN trophy requirement is to win a game of every type of Battle mode (catch the flag or collect the crystals etc). I'm certain I've won a game of every type of battle mode but the PSN trophy hasn't unlocked yet.

Battle mode is quite cool in that at the end of the game it highlights who the best player was (which I was as per the below screenshot).

 

As for Nitro Fueled Hard mode. It's not a fair race. The AI's are simply too fast. The game should at the very least give you useful weapons (such as Aku Aku/Uka Uka masks) more frequently to compensate for the harder difficulty, but it doesn't.

The best technique is to drop to 8th, get a Aku Aku mask, collect 10 Wumpa fruit and try to get a run of several Aku Aku masks whilst using the races short-cuts at every opportunity. Even then you won't win races. Just gotta keep retrying until you get lucky, which isn't much fun.

[DabigRG]

You gotta love what seems to be a general sentiment of spite this game has been spreading around here.

That's sarcasm, btw.

[Fire-N-Space]

Hard mode in this game takes me back to Kirby Air Ride when the CPUs have speed help on. 

 

 

[Jango]

4 hours ago, DabigRG said:

You gotta love what seems to be a general sentiment of spite this game has been spreading around here.

That's sarcasm, btw.

I don't get it. And what relevance does sarcasm has to the thread, anyways? 

[StratusAsterion]

I haven't tried hard mode but I've had no issues with normal mode so far, I find myself losing the comps fairly easy in a ton of stages, sure some stages are a lot harder then others, but I haven't found to much balance issues at all, in adventure mode so far I've passed Papu, and haven't lost at all so far in the mode.  Not trying to knock the people saying it's too hard, just don't find that myself.

[Sonicka]

Crash Team Racing was already a Hard game with a fundamentally challenging to master risk/reward mechanic (which is what makes the game engaging). 

I like this game because it doesn’t beat around the bush. All too often I’ll play racers and find for the last 2 laps I’m way ahead. CTR keeps you on your toes constantly, and they kept that this level of difficulty the m same in ‘normal’ mode at least is something I am pretty happy about.

Honestly, I think that they included a ‘hard’ mode is just a bit too insane anyway - and it sounds just about as fun as those that describe it so I’m steering well clear for now. As Hard Mode is merely an additional extra that wasn’t really part of the original experience I would just say to give this a miss if the AI is actually as cheat-laden as described.

Personally, if they fix whatever makes it tough then great... I guess? If not it’s not a big deal for me. It sucks for those that want the extra challenge and aren’t having a great time. But I’m also not entirely surprised it was programmed this way really.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

20 hours ago, Jango said:

which games aren't a work of perseverance against unfair AI on hard mode nowadays anyways?

Ones that have competent programming easily.

There's no need to try and white knight the issue.

[KHCast]

I really can’t get over how unappealing, cynical and shitty the Pit Stop is. Even if it’s “fixed” the fact it’s there and gating off content just feels gross. You can tell Activision is the one that called the shots there. It’s a shameless Fortnite Knockoff with microtransactions likely scrapped at the last second, without balancing the game to account for that. In a remake of all things. I totally can respect people deciding against purchasing the game because of it. Especially if said people have spotty internet connections.

[TheOcelot]

So, yesterday I decided to have another go at Hard mode.  I managed to beat Oxide (win all 16 races-get the 16 trophies) which unlocked the PSN trophy "Yeeee Haw" which you get for beating hard mode (you don't need to 100% hard mode to get the PSN trophy, just defeat him after collecting the 16 trophies).

The odds are stacked heavily against you in the races on hard-mode. You need a lot of luck as well as skill. You can't afford to fuck-up once. About half the races I beat at the first/second attempt by the skin of my teeth. I needed several attempts to beat other races such as Crash Cove, Roo Tubes, Coco Park, Sewer Speedway, Cortex Castle (which was a very tough), Pinstripe & Oxide boss-races. You need to master the short-cuts and take them on every corner etc.

Took a lot of attempts to beat Blizzard Bluff. Had to master the short-cut which I had to take on each lap in order to win the race. After BB I managed (to my amazement) to beat Dragon Mines, Polar Pass, Tiny Arena & Komodo Joe boss at the first attempt.

I've uploaded videos of me winning most of the races in hard mode.

 

I need three more PSN trophies in order to Plat the game; Unlock all of the original characters, Beat all N.Trophy time-trials & beat all Oxide time-trials. Oh dear...